Extending the Florida Pathways 2 Success Partnership to Increase Engagement, Retention, and Success of Low-income Undergraduate and Graduate Students

该项目将通过支持迈阿密戴德学院(MDC)和佛罗里达大学(UF)这两所综合性研究型大学留住并毕业于迈阿密戴德学院(MDC)和佛罗里达大学(UF)，为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为200名独特的学生提供奖学金：MDC的转学前AA生命科学专业学生；UF大学微生物学和细胞科学(MCS)专业转学后的学生；或正在UF攻读MCS硕士学位的学生。尽管个别的时间表可能不同，但全日制学生通常会在每个级别获得长达2年的奖学金(即，在攻读副学士和硕士学位时)。迈阿密戴德学院招收了大量不同类型的本科生，转校生更有可能来自STEM历史上代表性不足的群体，包括女性、退伍军人和第一代大学生。因此，该项目有可能极大地扩大对STEM企业的参与，并确定影响低收入转学学生留住和成功的关键因素。该项目还将为通过MCS攻读学士和硕士学位的学者提供在线选择，从而增加访问的机会。在线教育进一步扩大了非传统学生的机会，包括成人学习者、学生家长和来自服务不足地区的个人。通过利用全州范围内的研究设施网络和现有的基于在线课程的本科生研究经验，面对面和在线学者都将能够参与教师指导的本科生研究。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。这个项目的灵感来自于从S-STEM项目中吸取的经验教训，该项目已经向正在攻读大专和学士学位的学生颁发了400多个奖学金。项目研究将使用焦点小组、学生调查、机构数据和2018年来现有的S-STEM数据，以调查2024年FAFSA的变化如何影响奖学金获得者的资格和奖励金额。该研究计划还将探索奖学金对STEM转学、毕业和持之以恒的长期影响，并确定A.A.到B.S.转学过程中的障碍和成功的干预措施。该项目将由合格的独立评估者进行评估，以确保朝着项目目标取得进展，并确定最有效地推动学生成功的项目要素。该项目的成果将通过在STEM教育会议上的陈述、信息网络研讨会和同行评议期刊上的出版物来公布。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Miami Dade College (MDC), an HSI that primarily awards two-year A.A. degrees, and the University of Florida (UF), a comprehensive research university. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 200 unique students: pre-transfer A.A. life sciences students at MDC; post-transfer B.S. Microbiology and Cell Science (MCS) majors at UF; or students who are seeking an M.S. in MCS at UF. Although the individual timelines may vary, students who enroll full-time will usually receive scholarships of up to 2 years at each level (i.e., while pursuing associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees). Miami Dade College enrolls a large diverse population of undergraduates, and transfer students are more likely to be from groups historically underrepresented in STEM, including women, veterans, and first-generation college students. Consequently, this project has the potential to significantly broaden participation in the STEM enterprise and to identify key factors that affect retention and success of low-income transfer students. This project will also increase access by offering online options for scholars pursuing B.S. and M.S. degrees through MCS. Online education further extends opportunities to nontraditional students including adult learners, student parents, and individuals from underserved areas. By leveraging a statewide network of research facilities and existing online course-based undergraduate research experiences, both in-person and online scholars will be able to participate in faculty-mentored undergraduate research. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project is informed by the lessons learned from a prior S-STEM project at MDC and UF that has awarded over 400 scholarships to students pursuing associate and bachelor's degrees. Project research will use focus groups, student surveys, institutional data, and existing S-STEM data from 2018 to investigate how changes to the FAFSA in 2024 impact eligibility and awards amounts for scholarship recipients. The research plan will also explore the longer-term impacts of scholarships on transfer, graduation, and persistence in STEM and identify barriers and successful interventions in the A.A. to B.S. transfer process. The project will be assessed by a qualified independent evaluator to ensure progress toward project goals and identify elements of the project that most effectively drive student success. Results of this project will be made available through presentations at STEM education conferences, informational webinars, and publications in peer-reviewed journals. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.